'Gambhir Has Been Lagging Behind'

'The best coach is the one who is tactically superior. He should know how to pick the right XI according to the conditions.'

Gautam Gambhir's stint as head coach of the Indian cricket team has been riddled with setbacks, casting a shadow over his tenure.

Since succeeding Rahul Dravid following India's T20 World Cup triumph, Gambhir's record has been underwhelming. India suffered an ODI series loss in Sri Lanka, endured a historic 0-3 whitewash at home against New Zealand and fell 1-3 in Australia.

While his tenure has seen some success, including T20I series wins against Sri Lanka and both T20I and Test series victories at home against Bangladesh, the overall performance under his leadership has been concerning. India has lost six of their last eight Test matches, raising serious doubts ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy.

Despite being granted greater freedom and influence in selection meetings than any Indian coach in recent memory, Gambhir now faces intense criticism for his tactical shortcomings.

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif, a former team-mate of Gambhir's, did not hold back in questioning the coach's decision-making, particularly his struggle to field the right playing XI in critical matches.

'The best coach is the one who is tactically superior. He should know how to pick the right XI according to the conditions. What side he should go with against a team like Australia, that is a coach's job.

'The rest, like solving Virat Kohli's technical issues, may not be possible because he may not have gotten that time yet. 'Boss, you do this' to solve your batting issues. Perhaps Gambhir hasn't reached that stage yet. He would need more time,' Kaif remarked.

'But Gambhir hasn't been on top of his game tactically. He has been lagging behind,' Kaif added.

Kaif also criticised Gambhir's choices in key matches, pointing to errors in player selection during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

'I would want to know where exactly the team faltered. The point is that you lost three Tests at home against New Zealand. You reached Australia with a squad of 19 and then didn't play Jadeja in the first Test. Why didn't you?

'Ashwin, who is a legend, didn't play the first Test. However, we won the first Test because of Bumrah. But these are the tactical mistakes that he has to correct in the future.'